TN girl dies by suicide over NEET; CM vows to fight

Jayankondam/ Chennai: A girl who appeared for NEET and aspired to pursue medical education died by suicide at a village in Ariyalur District, the second such death within two days in Tamil Nadu, with the incident seeing a repeat of the main opposition AIADMK hitting out at the DMK regime, while Chief Minister

M K Stalin on Tuesday vowed to continue the legal fight to remove the test.

Hours after her death, the Chief Minister assured students and parents that there would be no compromise in the legal struggle to fully remove NEET.

Pointing to the passage of a Bill in the Assembly on September 13, Stalin said, "right from the beginning, we are opposing NEET, which is shattering the dreams of Tamil Nadu students to pursue medical education. We have started a legal struggle in full swing with the passing of the Bill, supported by all parties, barring the BJP."

He said there would be no compromise till NEET is removed by getting the assent of President Ram Nath Kovind to the Bill, which provides for admission to medical courses based on the Class

XII marks.

The Chief Minister said that a slew of incidents, including impersonation, sale of question papers and dishonest practices in coaching centres continued to expose that NEET is not a test to judge eligibility. "Our government is continuing to take all steps to remove NEET, which is

ruining equality in education," he said.

Expressing anguish and sorrow over the death of the girl, Stalin appealed to students and the parents,

saying "there must be an end to suicides."

He requested parents to nurture confidence among their children and added "let us stop the tragedy of ending one life's for the sake of life saving medical education. Let us drive out NEET through legal struggle." The Chief Minister conveyed his condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family.

While the main opposition AIADMK demanded that the ruling DMK stop its "political drama" over NEET, the ruling party targeted the Centre again, saying that the national test was a "conspiracy" and asserted that suicide is not a

solution for it.

The 17-year old girl, Kanimozhi, took the extreme step when her parents were away on September 13 night and they found her hanging on returning home within a span of a few hours, police said.